Cooling device for side mold of cast wheel mold

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an improved side mold cooling device for a cast wheel mold. The back cavity of a side mold is provided with one to three air holes, red copper is casted in the air holes, a groove body corresponding to a window is provided in the back cavity of the side mold, a main air pipe is annular and concentric with the outer diameter of a wheel, and two ends of the main air pipe are sealed by plug welding; an air pipe connector is welded on the outer side of the main air pipe, and the air pipe connector is connected with an external compressed air storage device; air claws are welded on the inner side of the main air pipe, correspond to hot spots of spokes and are as many as the air holes in the back cavity of the side mold.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is filed based upon and claims priority to ChinesePatent Application No. 201710163272.7, filed on Mar. 19, 2017, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to the casting field, and specifically to acooling device for a cast aluminum wheel mold.

BACKGROUND

At the present stage, about 80% of aluminum alloy wheels are produced byadopting a low-pressure cast molding process. As for a wheel, thejunctions of the spokes and the rim are thick and large, belong toobvious casting hot spots, and are the difficulty in present production.A large number of production practices show that common defects occurredat the hot spots are loosening and shrinkage, because heat is tooconcentrated therein, causing slow solidification of molten aluminum,whereas at the spoke part having a thin wall, the molten aluminum isquickly crystallized and easily early solidified to block a moltenaluminum flow channel, thereby hindering effective feeding on the thickand large hot spots and finally leading to molding defects.

Moreover, relatively low degree of supercooling may result in thick andlarge internal grains and shrunk and loose tissues at the outer rim ofthe wheel, so that the mechanical properties of the wheel are directlyinfluenced, a failure phenomenon appears in reliability tests, and thesafety performance of the wheel is influenced.

SUMMARY

A side mold cooling device for a wheel mold is provided, which maycapable of, among other things, overcoming the defects of loosening andshrinkage easily occurring at thick and large hot spots and improvingthe molding quality of a wheel.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, an improved cooling device for aside mold of a cast wheel mold includes an air pipe system and redcopper. Air holes are provided at the positions in the back cavity of aside mold corresponding to spokes, and the red copper is casted in theair holes. A groove body corresponding to a window is provided in theback cavity of the side mold, and the groove body is made according tothe shape of a rim.

The air pipe cooling system includes an air pipe connector, a main airpipe, air claws and air outlets. The main air pipe is annular andconcentric with the outer diameter of a wheel, and two ends of the mainair pipe are sealed by plug welding. The air pipe connector is welded onthe outer side of the main air pipe, and the air pipe connector isconnected with a compressed air storage device; the air claws are weldedon the inner side of the main air pipe, correspond to hot spots of thewheel and are as many as the air holes. The air outlets are distributeduniformly at a position corresponding to the window on the main airpipe, and the air direction is ensured to be perpendicular to the moldedsurface of the groove body.

The roots of the air holes are spaced 8-10 mm from a cavity surface toensure the strength of the mold. The quantity of the air holes is 1 to3.

The thickness of the red copper casted in the air holes is 5-8 mm. Theroot of the groove body is spaced 8-10 mm from the cavity surface.

The air pipe system is fixed in the back cavity of the side mold bywelding or bolt connection, and shall be installed firmly. When coolingstarts, compressed air enters the main air pipe via the connector, and apart of the compressed air is directly blown to the hot spots of thespokes along the air claws and quickly takes the heat of the mold awayvia the red copper, thus ensuring quick cooling of the hot spots; theother part of the compressed air is directly blown to the rim of thewindow via the air outlets, so that the degree of supercooling isimproved, grains are thinned, and excellent mechanical properties of therim are ensured; and in a pressure casting cycle, the cooling generallystarts from 30-50 seconds after liquid is heated and ends till theliquid is completely solidified at the hot spots, and this process iscirculated, thus ensuring stable and continuous production of wheelcastings.

The disclosure ensures effective cooling of hot spots, givesconsideration to crystal forming at the outer rim, strengthens the heatdissipation capability of the mold, quickly takes concentrated heat,improves the solidification speed of molten aluminum, eliminatesloosening and shrinkage of hot spots, simultaneously improves the degreeof supercooling, thins grain structures, improves the mechanicalproperties of the outer rim of the wheel, obviously shortens the castingproduction cycle, improves the production efficiency and reduces theproduction cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic assembly diagram of an improved side mold coolingdevice for a cast wheel mold in the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic arrangement diagram of an air pipe system of theimproved side mold cooling device for a cast wheel mold in thedisclosure.

In the figure, 1-bottom mold, 2-top mold, 3-side mold, 31-air hole,32-groove body, 4-air pipe system, 41-air pipe connector, 42-main airpipe, 43-air claw, 44-air outlet, 5-red copper.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 disclose an improved side mold cooling device for a castwheel mold.

Air holes 31 are provided at the positions in the back cavity of a sidemold 3 corresponding to spokes, and the roots of the air holes 31 arespaced 8-10 mm from a cavity surface to ensure the strength of the mold;the quantity of the air holes 31 is 1 to 3; red copper 5 is casted witha thickness of 5-8 mm in the air holes 31 to accelerate heat dissipationof the mold. A groove body 32 corresponding to a window is provided inthe back cavity of the side mold 3, the groove body 32 is designedaccording to the shape of the window, and the root of the groove body 32is spaced 8-10 mm from the cavity surface.

An air pipe cooling system 4 includes an air pipe connector 41, a mainair pipe 42, air claws 43 and air outlets 44; the main air pipe 42 isannular and concentric with the outer diameter of a wheel, and two endsof the main air pipe 42 are sealed by plug welding. The air pipeconnector 41 is welded on the outer side of the main air pipe 42, andthe air pipe connector 41 is connected with a compressed air storagedevice; the air claws 43 are welded on the inner side of the main airpipe 42, correspond to hot spots of the spokes and are as many as theair holes 31 in the back cavity of the side mold.

The ends of the air claws 43 are spaced 5 mm from the end face of thered copper 5; the position on the main air pipe 42 corresponding to thegroove body 32 is provided with the air outlets 44, diameters of whichare 2-4 mm and intervals of which are 20-30 mm, and the air direction isensured to be perpendicular to the molded surface of the cavity, thuscooling the rim.

The air pipe system 4 is fixed in the back cavity of the side mold 3 bywelding or bolt connection, and shall be installed firmly. When coolingstarts, compressed air enters the main air pipe via the connector, and apart of the compressed air is directly blown to the hot spots of thespokes along the air claws and quickly takes the heat of the mold awayvia the red copper, thus ensuring quick cooling of the hot spots; theother part of the compressed air is directly blown to the rim of thewindow via the air outlets, so that the degree of supercooling isimproved, internal grains are thinned, and excellent mechanicalproperties of the rim are ensured; and in a pressure casting cycle, thecooling generally starts from 30-50 seconds after liquid is heated andends till the liquid is completely solidified at the hot spots, and thisprocess is circulated, thus ensuring stable and continuous production ofwheel castings.

What is claimed is:
 1. An improved cooling device for a side mold of acast wheel mold, comprising an air pipe system and red copper, whereinair holes are provided at the positions in the back cavity of a sidemold corresponding to spokes, the red copper is casted in the air holes,and a groove body corresponding to a window is provided in the backcavity of the side mold.
 2. The improved cooling device for a side moldof a cast wheel mold according to claim 1, wherein the roots of the airholes are spaced 8-10 mm from a cavity surface, the quantity of the airholes is 1 to 3, the thickness of the red copper casted in the air holesis 5-8 mm, and the root of the groove body is spaced 8-10 mm from thecavity surface.
 3. The improved cooling device for a side mold of a castwheel mold according to claim 1, wherein the air pipe system comprisesan air pipe connector, a main air pipe, air claws and air outlets; themain air pipe is annular and concentric with the outer diameter of awheel, and two ends of the main air pipe are sealed by plug welding; theair pipe connector is welded on the outer side of the main air pipe, andthe air pipe connector is connected with an external compressed airstorage device; the air claws are welded on the inner side of the mainair pipe, correspond to hot spots of the spokes and are as many as theair holes in the back cavity of the side mold.
 4. The improved coolingdevice for a side mold of a cast wheel mold according to claim 2,wherein the ends of the air claws are spaced 5 mm from the end face ofthe red copper; the position on the main air pipe corresponding to thegroove body is provided with the air outlets, diameters of which are 2-4mm and intervals of which are 20-30 mm.